Contents

About the course

The Tommy Flowers SCITT courses devote the majority of training time to experience in school and in the classroom. In our partnership schools, you will learn from experience practitioners, particularly your personal mentor. In grading the Tommy Flowers SCITT as 'outstanding', OFSTED stated that the training received by trainees is 'exemplary'.

From day one, you will be regarded as a teacher in your placement school. However, your teaching timetable will develop and grow to suit your own experience, pace and progress. By way of guidance it is normal for the first two weeks to be observation so that you become familiar with the classes you will be assigned. You would then normally take parts of lessons (starters, plenary, demonstrations etc) for a further two weeks to nurture you into the teaching and learning experience. Normally a student teacher would be lead teaching up to 4-8 lessons a week before October half term. The proportion of lead teaching would then increase gradually each week until your timetable reaches approximately 16 hours per week.

At the end of the year, successful trainees will be awarded QTS status and a PGCE. The assessment process for these awards consists of being able to satisfy the Teacher Standards and also demonstrate an understanding of the relevant subject knowledge required for the subject through set tasks.

This course is framed by a commitment to help you to develop into a graduate teacher who is reflective, creative, resourceful, independent, collaborative and resilient. It presumes you have the drive, energy and commitment to undertake a course which is devised to develop your expertise in teaching and learning. There are two overarching elements to the course: the development as a professional and the development as a subject specialist. These are not separate and all aspects of the year intertwine and overlap. The best ITT students have a clear understanding of their role and responsibilities as a teacher in a school.

You can expect a wide range of support throughout the year. Your school mentor will be responsible for you on a daily basis and the mentors are supported in school by a nominated Professional Tutor. You will have support with professional studies sessions and also subject specific sessions. Link tutors will visit you on placement to quality assure your experience.

Interview process

You will receive a letter if you are invited to interview. A detailed programme for the day will be provided on arrival and will include an opportunity to find out more about our course and teaching in Milton Keynes, an activity with pupils, a presentation, a short literacy task and a formal interview. You will be asked to plan and prepare a task to lead with a group of 6 pupils for 20 minutes. It will be best if the pupils are interacting with you and each other in this task.

The interview panel will include a Partnership Manager from the Tommy Flowers SCITT and a senior leader from a partner school.

Following this process, you will be informed of the outcome.

How school placements work

Trainees have two contrasting placements, a base placement from 1st September to 30th June with a 7 week contrasting placement in the Spring term. In addition, you will receive a personalised programme of additional visits to specialist schools, developing skills specific to your needs. This enables you to experience a range of educational approaches, preparing you to work with the unique, dynamic and diverse communities Milton Keynes has to offer.

Secondary placements are for ages 11-16 with post-16 enhancement. You will spend four days per week in school and one day per week training with the Tommy Flowers SCITT.

Financial support from the training provider

Tuition fee loans

You can either pay for your fees out of private finance, or apply for a student loan from the Student Loans Company.

Maintenance loans

Depending on your personal financial circumstances, you may also be eligible for a maintenance loan to contribute towards your costs of living. This is means-tested and will be completely individualised to each applicant. This is paid termly, at the start of each term, by the Student Loans Company.

Special circumstances

There are further avenues of funding available, such as Childcare Grants, Parents’ Learning Allowances or Disabled Students’ Allowances. Click here for a full list of the grants and loans available and the eligibility criteria.

Your tuition fees and any other bursary or financial support depend on your status as a home, European Union (EU) or overseas student. All grants and bursaries are subject to conditions and you are not guaranteed funding, but you may be eligible for financial support, tuition fee loan and maintenance grant information.

Requirements

Qualifications

Degree

You must hold a bachelor’s honours degree (class 2:2 or above) from a UK Higher Education Institution (HEI), or an equivalent qualification. At least 50% of your degree must be relative to the subject you want to teach.

GCSEs

English and Maths GCSEs or equivalent qualifications at grade C/4 or above.

Skills test

QTS Skills Tests in Literacy and Numeracy. These can be taken after your interview. Once you have registered with UCAS, you should book your skills tests on the Department for Education’s website.

Personal qualities

Applicants for our courses come from a diverse range of backgrounds and have a variety of prior experiences. Many applicants are recent or soon-to-be graduates from university, whilst others have been working in schools already, perhaps as teaching assistants, volunteers or office staff. For some applicants, they have already had a successful career in other industries and are looking for a career change, realising that teaching is rewarding and that they can make a significant difference to the lives of children.

Applicants should be organised, reflective and professional, able to work with others and have strong subject knowledge.

Other requirements

A DBS check will be carried out after interview.

Ideally, you should have 10 days’ experience in a secondary school. This could be voluntary work or employment, for example as a Teaching Assistant. It is good practice for this to be in place before you apply for a place on the course.

NARIC certification of equivalency will be required if qualifications have been undertaken abroad.

About the training provider

Graded an ‘outstanding’ provider of primary and secondary teacher training in Milton Keynes by Ofsted in December 2017, the Tommy Flowers SCITT is pleased to share with you our exemplary training programmes and superb outcomes.

Working in partnership with schools across Milton Keynes and the surrounding area, our teacher training programmes provide access to outstanding training, mentoring and pastoral care. We create varied experiences for our trainees that will set them up to be excellent teachers for the children of Milton Keynes. We aim to nurture trainees into exceptional teachers who develop positive attitudes to learning and behaviour in their pupils, have strong subject and professional knowledge and engage their classes with enthusiasm and energy. With a 100% employment rate following completion of the course, our Newly Qualified Teachers (NQTs), ‘often exceed levels of performance expected at such an early stage of their career.’ (Ofsted 2017).

If you have a passion for teaching, are organised and hard-working, please explore our courses further and contact us to find out more about studying with the Tommy Flowers SCITT.

Training with disabilities and other needs

Disability access and Child care arrangements vary across the alliance schools and this will depend on which school becomes your base school for your main placement. There are avenues of funding available, such as Childcare Grants, Parents’ Learning Allowances or Disabled Students’ Allowances. Trainees with disabilities will have a needs analysis completed so that the support required can be put in place. We work in partnership with Northumbria University to ensure that needs are met across the teacher training and PGCE elements of the course.

Support and advice

Get support and advice about teaching

Register with Get into Teaching, the Department for Education’s free support and advice service, for personalised guidance from teaching experts. They can help you to prepare your application, book school experience, and access exclusive teaching events. You can also call them free on 0800 389 2500, or speak to an adviser using their online chat service, from 8am to 8pm, Monday to Friday.

Website support

If you have feedback or have had a problem using Find postgraduate teacher training you can contact us by email.

Is there something wrong with this page?

For personalised support and advice about teacher training, register with Get into Teaching.
You can also call them free on 0800 389 2500, or speak to an adviser using their online chat service,
from 8am to 8pm, Monday to Friday.